Use this PowerPoint to help you deliver a Soccer Aid for Unicef Playground Challenge assembly in your school. It will help pupils understand why they are fundraising and inspire them to raise money when they take part in this year’s Playground Challenge, which is on Friday 14 June.   This ready-made assembly has been designed to take around 15 minutes to deliver. A script for presenters is included in the Notes for each slide. Please feel free to use and adapt it to suit your needs. Useful supporting information for the presenter is in italics.

‘Kick-off’ the assembly by holding up a football. This football is going to change children’s lives. Are you wondering how?

Because we’re going to join thousands of schools across the UK and take part in the Soccer Aid for Unicef Playground Challenge on Friday 14 June!

Soccer Aid is when celebrities, sports stars and football legends get together to play an incredible football match and raise money for Unicef, a charity that helps children around the world whose lives have been turned upside down and who are often in danger.

We’re going to get involved in Soccer Aid by holding a Playground Challenge right here in our school. We’re going to design a fun obstacle course… and that’s where the football comes in…we must include a football in our course. There are no other rules – we can bounce, run, hop or skip our way round. Everyone in the school is going to take part and we’re going to try to raise as much money as we can.   Explain how you’ll raise money, for example: •        We’re each going to get sponsored to complete the obstacle course. •        We’re going to ask everyone to bring in a donation to complete the course and take part in Soccer Aid for Unicef activities. •        Each class is going to compete to see who can raise the most money/who can design the most creative challenge/who complete the course in the fastest time.

We could even win a visit to our school from the incredible F2 Freestylers!   Competition details It’s easy to enter our competition to win a visit from the F2 Freestylers. Film it. Take a quick video of your Playground Challenge on the day – this can be on a phone. Share it. Post your video on Twitter tagging #PlaygroundChallenge @ThF2 and @socceraid. (You can also send your video to schoolschallenge@unicef.org.uk The deadline for entries is 28 June 2019. Judging criteria. We’ll be looking for a school who: Shows creativity – from your challenge design to your fundraising plans. Champions inclusivity - get the whole school moving! (Teachers – time to take one for the team.) Shows commitment to defending play for every child – this isn’t about footy skills. Simply show/tell us how your school is playing and fundraising to change the lives of children all over the world. The visit will be take place on a mutually agreeable date. For more info and terms and conditions, go to socceraid.org.uk/f2-school-visit

Find the film at socceraid.org.uk/ schools-resources Show pupils this short film about Ayas and Younus, brothers living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. The film will help pupils understand how the money raised for the Soccer Aid for Unicef Playground Challenge helps children around the world.   You should be able to stream the film directly from this presentation by clicking on the play button. Please make sure that external content is enabled. If you experience problems, you can download the film (or stream it) at socceraid.org.uk/schools-resources. Ayas (5) and Younus (9) are Rohingya Muslims who were forced to leave their home in Myanmar when conflict erupted and their parents were killed. Their grandmother brought them to safety in Bangladesh, where they’ve been living in a refugee camp since August 2017. Life is difficult for the boys and they are happiest when surrounded by toys, games and books in the Unicef child friendly space at the camp. Not only is it a safe place to laugh and play, it’s where they can start their journey to an education, giving them the chance to escape poverty and have a brighter future. After watching the film you could discuss some of the issues raised by the film. You could use the questions below as prompts. Questions Where do Ayas and Younus live? [A refugee camp in Bangladesh.] Why do they live there? [They had to leave their home in Myanmar when conflict erupted.] What do you think would be the hardest thing about their lives? [Pupils might talk about having to leave everything behind at home, not being able to see their friends, being away from their family, feeling uncertain about their future, their education being interrupted.] Where is Ayas and Younus’s favourite place? [The Unicef child friendly space.] Why do you think they are happy at the child friendly space? [Pupils might talk about how the boys can meet and make friends, that they can relax and forget their worries for a while, that they can run around and play games, that they can sit quietly and read or draw.] Why is it important that Ayas and Younus play with their friends? [Play is important for physical and mental health. When children play, they learn how to think for themselves, to use their bodies, to make friends and learn who they are and where they fit into the world around them. Play isn’t just about having fun. Just 15 minutes of play can spark thousands of connections in a baby’s brain. Playing while young has a big impact on a child’s future life, increasing the likelihood of doing well at school, being healthy, living a happy life and playing an active role in society.]

£172 could buy a preschool-in-a-box full of toys, books and games £375 could build a whole community playground in Zambia Use your fundraising guide to help you set your goal and find out what your fundraising could buy. Here are some examples to get you started. As you saw in the film, the money we raise for the Soccer Aid Playground Challenge will help Unicef change children’s lives. And that’s why we’re going to do our best to raise as much money as we can. £172 could buy a preschool-in-a-box. Unicef sends these kits to children who need them in some of the most hard-to-reach places in the world. They’re full of toys, games and books – 43 pieces in total. The cost of the kit includes the box. It’s made of metal and is strong so that it can survive a long journey from the factory. It’s a secure and safe place to keep all the toys so that children can use them every day for years.  £375 could build a whole community playground in Zambia so that 100 children can play. If we all got involved in the Playground Challenge, imagine what a difference our fundraising could make!

If you already have plans, share them with the school now If you already have plans, share them with the school now. If you’ve set a fundraising target, you could tell pupils about it.   You could ask pupils for their fundraising ideas. Would they like to be inspired by the F2 Freestylers and run a sponsored keepy-uppy challenge? Who would like to bake cakes for a bake sale? What about beat-the-teacher penalty shootout? What other ideas do pupils have? Selling healthy drinks and snacks on the day? A hula-hooping challenge?

The best news is every £1 we raise for Soccer Aid for Unicef until 23 July 2019 will be matched by the UK government, doubling the difference we make to children’s lives.

To get in the mood for your Playground Challenge, you could get everyone to join in with a few simple dance moves to football-themed music, e.g. a TV theme tune or World Cup song. Make it even more fun by using football-themed moves like kicking, side-stepping or celebrating a goal.   Unicef UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 1072612) and in Scotland (SC043677). Unicef UK Registered Charity No. 1072612 (England and Wales) SC043677 (Scotland).